Evangelion Magisword!
by Traitor of All Traitors
Summary: Set in the aftermath of the Twelfth Angel incident, nobody at NERV expected Shinji to be alive, until a call from a former competitor against NERV came and revealed that he was with them, and when he returns from his sojourn experiences, he brings back with him a potential means to change everything. Swords that aren't swords, objects that aren't just objects, and beyond powerful.
1. Evangelion Magisword!

Creation began on 01-01-18

Creation ended on 01-02-18

Neon Genesis Evangelion

Evangelion Magisword!

A/N: My first story of the new year! I hope it gets interest!

It had been a week since the Twelfth Angel incident that reduced NERV to two Evas and two pilots. The boy everyone at NERV knew as Shinji Ikari, the only son of Commander Gendo Ikari was declared missing in action due to something they hadn't expected to happen when the Angel was blown into the next world: The Entry Plug was void of any body that would was supposed to be in it. But even if there was a chance that he was alive, the paramilitary agency had no means to contact him or ascertain his whereabouts. Everyone that had something to do with his time at NERV was taking his absence in their own way to cope…or at least try to cope.

Misato Katsuragi rarely spoke more than ten words in any conversation with anyone. She even once threatened to make Ritsuko Akagi's life miserable if there was any indication that Shinji was dead, since it was her and Commander Ikari that made the move to detonate the Angel in an attempt to salvage the Eva, caring nothing for the boy, as he was just expendable.

Rei Ayanami, whom most thought was just detached from any means of forming relationships, spent most of her time in her crappy apartment, trying to process the loss of Shinji. In a way, what had happened was likely fate's way of freeing the boy from the burden of piloting the Eva, something he was, more or less, drafted into doing by his father. If there was truly such a thing as an afterlife wherever Shinji was, Rei was hoping that he was at least at peace.

Asuka Langley Soryu, on the other hand, had saw firsthand how dangerous it was for anyone to pilot the Eva and not survive. At first, she just wanted to assume that NERV had found Shinji and was keeping quiet about it because they wanted to keep a measly trump card. Probably waiting until the next Angel to arrive and then they'll unveil a still-alive Shinji to save the day.

Ring-ring-ring! The phone in the hallway of the Katsuragi apartment rang and Asuka answered it before the caller was forced to leave a message.

"Hello?" She greeted, and then her eyes shot open to their widest. "What?!"

-x-

NERV had received a collect call from what was left of Tokyo from the Japan Heavy Chemicals Industries company, apparently under an unofficial request to contact one Misato Katsuragi, which was confusing to many.

"This is Major Katsuragi of NERV," Misato uttered over the phone.

"Shiro Tokita of Japan Heavy Chemicals Industries, Major Katsuragi," the man on the other end greeted, and both individuals were reminded of the Jet Alone incident.

"Someone from your company wished to speak with me?"

"Not one of us. One of yours."

"I'm sorry, one of ours?"

"He says he's one of yours when he, literally, fell through our building. A one Shinji Ikari."

Everyone in Central Dogma gasped.

"The Third Child was declared missing in action," went Gendo Ikari to Shiro over the phone. "What game are you playing by saying that he's over there with your people?"

"Because I asked Mr. Tokita to call Misato to let her know that I'm fine," they heard a voice that was just like Shinji's, "and that I'd be back in Tokyo-3 in two days."

"How do we know you're him, though?" Misato had to ask. "Tell us something that only Shinji would know about."

"Okay, I know that you keep a genetically-modified penguin for a pet," the voice on the other end explained, "that your apartment was a wreck when I showed up, you were late picking me up when the Third Angel attacked, and your refrigerator had nothing but snacks, ice and over forty gallons of beer."

Everyone looked at Misato, who was left standing dumbstruck by the undeniable truth that the boy over in Tokyo was indeed Shinji.

"Why two days?" She asked, not needing to be convinced any further.

"Malnourished and dehydrated," he answered. "And believe me, you can get that where I've been for the equivalent what felt like five years, looking for the means to get back here."

-x-

Disconnecting the call to Tokyo-3, a withered and exhausted Shinji Ikari, dressed in a two-piece, black outfit with blue sections of armor covering him like a medieval samurai or a knight, slumped back in the chair he was in and looked at his left hand, still weak from his fatigue and dehydrated state.

"Thank you, Mr. Tokita," he praised the gentleman from the decommissioned Jet Alone program.

"You're welcome," he responded. "I hope you can still explain how you ended up…like this."

"I promised you an explanation in exchange for your help. And this is the reason."

Shiro saw the weakened man reach over to a small, green knapsack with his named sewn into it tied to his waist's right side and opened it up to pull out something. It looked like a miniature version of what he and the rest of the personnel present the previous day saw him with when he just crashed into their boardroom, deteriorated and clinging to life: A type of sword-like object with a curved, blunt blade made entirely of what looked like a piece of the cosmos.

"My Interdimensional Magisword," he explained. "It was the key I needed to getting back to this world from the one I ended up in as a result of the Twelfth Angel. Three months to learn of…and four years to find."

"Magi… Magisword?"

"I guess you could say that's the designation for magical swords. Each one is unique and has a power or series of powers for any type of purpose. You just have to be open to the possibilities that exist therein."

Shinji then removed another one from his sack, this one with the end shaped like an hourglass.

"Time Control Magisword. When used in conjunction with Interdimensional Magisword, it enables one to go back in time to their appropriate age wherever they were when they disappeared. However, it was the first time I ever used either alongside one another, so the first time was the worst time. A heavy risk, but one I had to take."

Shinji then started coughing and Shiro got him the bottle of water on the desk in front of the phone; the journey back to this world had wiped out the boy and he was a ways before being restored to even a semblance of his previous state. Even if two days was enough to get him out of the touch-and-go state he was in, he was still looking at over a week before he could be considered fit to take on the world. One thing was for certain, and that was Shinji Ikari was relieved to have made it back to this universe in one piece. As he drank from the bottle and gulped the cool, soothing liquid, the deteriorated boy thought back to the people he owed his life to for helping him find his way back home (even though it didn't feel like it was much of a home for him with everything he had gone through).

 _Thank you_ _…_ _Warriors for Hire,_ he thought, drifting back into unconsciousness.

-x-

 _Welcome to Lyvsheria_

Groaning as he tried to get up, Shinji Ikari, weak from hunger and dehydration, opened his eyes and saw that he was inside some sort of room. Judging from the look of things, the place was rather primitive, with the majority of the furniture being made out of wood. He was on a wooded bed, indicating that he was in someone's room. The door to the room opened up and he saw someone approach him; due to his vision being blurry, Shinji couldn't see who it was.

"You're finally awake," he heard a female voice say to him. "How do you feel?"

"I…I… Water, please," he pleaded, his throat dry.

His right hand was given something like a cup, and the woman that came in guided it to his mouth, helping him revitalize his esophagus.

"Thank you," he praised.

As his vision came into focus, he got a good look at the woman that helped him. She was tall, probably in her early-twenties, with purple hair and reddish eyes, dressed in a greenish leotard with a yellow cape, like some sort of superhero or something.

"Who are you?" She asked him.

"Shinji Ikari," he answered, introducing himself. "Who are you and where am I?"

"Vambre Warrior of Warriors for Hire," she introduced herself, "and you're in Warriors for Hire HQ in Rhyboflavin in the land of Lyvsheria."

"Rhyboflavin? Lyvsheria?"

It would be a while before Shinji had the strength to get up and explore his new surroundings. And it would be even longer before he realized that he wasn't anyplace known to anyone in Japan or elsewhere. No, he was in a place that seemed like a fantasy world, where one of the biggest commodities were a multitude of sword-like objects that could do different things…and that this woman that he met…was one of two people that literally lost their minds over them.

To be continued…

A/N: And here, for the new year, is my _Evangelion_ crossover with _Mighty Magiswords_. I've been meaning to do this, but could never find the time to do so. I'm hoping this chapter will satisfy some readers until I get to work on the next chapter in the future. Peace out, yo.


	2. Recuperation

Creation began on 01-02-18

Creation ended on 01-04-18

Neon Genesis Evangelion

Recuperation

Through a combination of regular consumption and intravenous fluids, Shinji Ikari had recovered enough in the short, forty-eight hours that he needed to regain some measure of strength to make the journey to Tokyo-3. During his treatment, he had shown several personnel of Japan Heavy Chemical Industries the powers of some of his Magiswords, even lending five of them over to be studied in the hopes that they could be used to help people that were suffering from the Eva program he was part of, since he had more than one of some of the same swords in case of emergencies. He had lent the company extras of his Dairy Product, Bacon, Carrot, Celery and Waffle Magiswords, enabling them to help people who were short on food.

"Your transportation will be arriving shortly, Mr. Ikari," a woman informed Shinji in the room he was in as he was waiting.

He turned to face her and responded, "Thank you, ma'am. And please, just Shinji is fine. It's not formal, but I don't wish to be accidentally compared to my father."

"Understood, Shinji."

"Thank you."

-x-

"…I still can't believe he's actually alive," said Asuka to Misato as they waited at the airport for the boy to arrive. "How'd he end up from Tokyo-3 to Tokyo through the Angel?"

"Do you honestly expect him to have the answer to how he got there and why? All he said was that he was someplace else for what felt like five years to him…and maybe it was for him," Misato stated. "The fact that he was able to find his way back here is at least a sign that he was able to obtain the means of his return…and it took him a long time to get those means."

The plane Shinji was on was expected to arrive at three-eighteen, which was fortunate for them, since it was the only plane on the arrival manifest schedule. And it was nearing that time when the redhead saw a plane set down on the ground.

"I guess that's his plane," she told Misato.

They went to the arrival gate with a sign that had Shinji's name on it, which seemed unnecessary; because of the increase in attacks by the Angels, more people left Tokyo-3 and even less people lived in or commuted to it. The gate opened up…and they saw the petite form that was Shinji's current state, dressed in a semblance of his casual clothing that was comprised of jeans and an orange shirt, earning slight concern from both women, but they could still recognize his face enough to know that he seemed within the realm of recovery.

"Shinji," greeted Misato as she went over and hugged him. "I'm so glad you're okay."

He slowly brought his arms up to hold her back, allowing Asuka to see his still-thin wrists that showed his nerves as he responded, "It's good to see you again, Misato."

 _What in Gott's name happened to him?_ Asuka wondered. _Where did he go? What did he do?_

-x-

"Major Katsuragi and the Second Child have retrieved the Third Child," Makoto Hyuga informed Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki. "They're bringing him to HQ for further medical evaluation and treatment."

"It's still a wonder, how he was able to disappear from Unit-01 and end up somewhere, only to end up in Tokyo a week later after saying he was elsewhere for five years." Fuyutsuki confessed.

"And he asked them to call Katsuragi, someone he trusts."

-x-

"…Other than borderline malnutrition and dehydration, he's in recovery," Ritsuko told Gendo in his office, updating him on the medical status of the Third Child. "There is something else, too. I drew blood and had his post-recovery samples analyzed…and wherever he wind up must've been high in slugs as food because his digestive tract contained unprocessed slugs mixed with ground beef."

"Slug burgers?"

"We'd have to ask him."

"Where is he now?"

"Major Katsuragi took him back to her apartment after his evaluation."

-x-

It felt like a daydream to be back in his room with the modern conveniences he knew, even if the ceiling was always unfamiliar to him. For Shinji, any ceiling was always going to be unfamiliar because, as often as he resided in one place for an undetermined period of time, it was hard to address these places as home. But this was a place that had familiar scents and sights. The one thing he couldn't hide from Misato and Asuka was his voracious appetite for the takeout food the guardian had brought; it was like he hadn't seen food in a long time…and he owed them an explanation like the people at Japan Heavy Chemical Industries.

"He didn't even complain about it being takeout," said Asuka to Misato in the living room.

"It wouldn't be weird if he did eat five dumplings and most of the teriyaki," Misato expressed. "According to Ritsuko, he might've had to eat some sort of slug-like creature as a meat substitute, wherever he was."

"They called them Slugburgers," they both heard Shinji say, seeing him by the entrance to the room, holding the knapsack he had with him when he returned. "They were like regular burgers…but with slugs mixed in with the ground beef. Not bad, really, but it makes you really want the actual thing."

He sat on the sofa beside the two and set the knapsack on the table.

"I think I've recovered enough to tell you about my sojourn experience where I ended," he told them, opening the sack and pulling out a miniature of a sword-like object with a stack of pancakes topped with butter. "This is some of what helped me to survive where I ended up. I'll show you what they can do."

The miniature then enlarged until it was large enough to be held like an actual sword, looking more like it had when tiny.

"Pancake Magisword!" A male voice announced in the room, but neither Misato and Asuka could see who had said what they assumed was the name of the sword Shinji had.

"Any requests?" Shinji asked them.

"Chocolate chip pancakes, please?" Asuka requested, and Shinji aimed the sword at the table, and saw it fire a stream of light that condensed into a plate of the pancakes she requested, topped with a strawberry and syrup. "No way!"

"Way," he revealed, sliding the dish over to her. "Go ahead, taste it."

Asuka picked up the fork that came with the dish and cut into the top pancake, putting a piece into her mouth…and felt her tastebuds ignite from the flavor. But what shocked her the most was that it was all real.

"It's real," she expressed. "How?"

"Magiswords," he stated, now holding another enlarged sword, this one with a large burger with a propeller on the top bun. "Each one has a different specialty based on its form. Here, Misato."

"Excaliburger Magisword!" The same voice announced, and the sword produced a large cheeseburger with a propeller floating towards the purple-haired woman.

Misato snatched the burger from the air and the propeller disappeared, feeling like a real one.

"Magical swords?" She questioned.

"Yeah. They were a… They are a thing where I was. Just about anyone with an interest in them had one or few or many. I was found by a pair of siblings that would go crazy each time there was a new to be found or collected. Eventually, I needed to get into the fad, as well if I wanted to survive. I have to say, I'm glad I got into obsession. I ended up getting some very rare and very beneficial Magiswords that helped me get back here."

They saw him pull out another sword, but this one was quite the looker. It was shaped like Shinji's body outline, dressed up in a white shirt and black slacks like his, but there was no face.

"What is this one called?" Asuka asked.

"It's my past and present," he answered, being cryptic…or rather, he was being cryptically literal. "I'll show you."

"Shinji Ikari History Magisword!" The same disembodied voice announced the identity of this Magisword as it was used…and Misato and Asuka saw everything.

-x-

 _My First Magisword_

So far, the land that Shinji was told to be Lyvsheria didn't seem all that unusual. The only thing that did make him uncomfortable was being alone with the Warrior siblings' dragon houseguest because it, or rather, he just gave him the creeps a little bit. And that was what he was right now, alone with Grup.

"So…are Vambre and Prohyas always out looking for these…Magiswords?" Shinji asked the dragon in the living room.

"Yep," answered Grup, which left Shinji bothered because he could understand how people talk. "Hmm… You don't like Grup, do you?"

"What? No, that's not true."

His expression, however, told of a completely different story to the little dragon. Shinji was merely disturbed by the fact that Grup was a dragon, but totally different from what he had known about dragons from mythology…and he was nothing like the Komodo dragons that once existed in his world. If anything, Grup was like someone's attempt at making a dragon that was as close to child-friendly as possible.

"It's just…you're a dragon, yet you're not what I had expected," he confessed to Grup.

"Not what you expected?"

"All I knew about dragons was that they were…huge and not as friendly as you."

"Oh. Most dragons here don't get as big as a person…and most don't talk to people…unlike me, that is."

 _Shinji… Shinji…_ Shinji heard a voice in the room.

"What was that?" He asked Grup.

"What was what?" The dragon responded.

"You didn't hear a voice just now?"

"Nope."

 _Beneath your feet_ _…_ He heard the voice again, more clearly and could hear that it was a male voice. _Beneath your feet._

"I'm hearing a voice telling me 'beneath your feet'."

"Beneath your feet? A while back, I did hear a voice like that, but I ignored it."

"Where was this?"

"Here, actually."

"We're back!" They heard Vambre and Prohyas declare outside, reentering the house.

Prohyas had a Magisword shaped like a piece of construction equipment.

"Welcome back," Shinji greeted the siblings. "What type of Magisword is that?"

"Excavator Magisword," answered Vambre. "It can dig through hardened surfaces."

"Just like an excavator can," the Evangelion pilot realized, and an idea hit him. "Prohyas, might I borrow that for a moment?"

Prohyas thought about it for a second and decided that Shinji could be trusted with one of their Magiswords and handed over the Excavator Magisword.

"What could you possibly want to do with it?" He asked Shinji.

"With your permission, I would like to excavate under your house," he requested.

"Do you think there's some sort of treasure buried?" Vambre asked him.

"I'm not sure."

They permitted Shinji to excavate under their house and he took the Magisword outside and walked a good seven feet away so as to not cause any unintentional property damage.

"Excavator Magisword!" The voice of a man announced as Shinji used the sword-like object on the ground, rapidly digging a large hole.

"Whoa!" He gasped; he hadn't expected it to be so wild and powerful. "I was just expecting it to be subtle!"

However, since it was his first use of any Magisword, the Warriors gave him the benefit of the doubt that first-time usage of any was always the worst time. In less than a minute, perhaps eight tons of dirt, the excavation ceased.

THUNK! Shinji hit something solid that the sword was now meant to break.

"Retractable Ladder Magisword!" That same voice announced as Shinji wiped away small amounts of dirt off of a large chest, and saw Vambre and Prohyas climb down into the hole.

Shinji looked up and couldn't believe the sword shifted through enough dirt to be almost a mile deep. It was amazing.

"What'd you find?" Prohyas asked, looking at the chest.

 _At last, someone finds me,_ that voice in Shinji's head expressed, coming from the chest.

"Something," Shinji stated; he wasn't sure what he found yet.

Opening the chest, the three were bathed in light.

"Waaahh!" They gasped.

Large, TV-like screens manifested around the three, all of them showing Shinji at various moments in his past, from his childhood he had very little memory of, the time he spent piloting the Eva, his estrangement from his father, his displacement into the world of Lyvsheria, all the way up to now.

"Shinji Ikari History Magisword!" That voice announced the name of some Magisword they knew nothing about, and the light faded, revealing Shinji holding a Magisword that looked like his body.

"Oh, dear heart!" Vambre gasped, seeing Shinji actually suffering in the Eva, whether he was in a battle against a giant creature or not.

"Fuss," went Prohyas, seeing Shinji being walked away from his negligent, black-hearted father.

Shinji saw events that he had forgotten about due to the trauma he experienced with losing his mother. Somehow, the Magisword he had found, or rather, the Magisword that wanted somebody to find it, was able to reveal the total sum of the finder and wielder's past, whether they themselves had recall or not. Anytime it was used, it would reveal everything there was to know about them up to the present, where there was nothing but the current events not related to their past, which was history.

When the screens creased showing everything after showing Shinji finding the Magisword, the Warrior siblings looked to him and bowed their heads in sympathy.

"Looks like you found your first Magisword," Vambre praised him, then looked at the chest, "and something else, too."

Shinji back at the chest and saw some things that weren't there before. Inside the chest were a note and a set of dark clothes. He picked up the note and began reading.

" _Congratulations on finding the Magisword that will forever represent your past up to the present. If this is your first one, then all the more reason you were meant to find it. There are other Magiswords out there that need to be collected. Some of which may be the ones you need to change your fate and the fates of others important to you. You must be the one to gain these Magiswords however you can, no matter how long it takes you. Do your best to escape the darkness looming over your soul. I shall have faith in your ability to succeed. Use the power you have. Good luck."_ The note read.

He showed the note to the Warriors and picked up the clothes in the chest, also finding a small pouch that jingled when moved. Opening the pouch, Shinji removed a small number of strange, gold coins with what looked like a silver or maybe platinum, unicursal hexagram engraved in each one.

"Oh, dear heart," he heard Vambre say. "They really do exist."

"These coins?" Shinji asked her, putting them back in the pouch. "What are they?"

"Empire Coins," revealed Prohyas to him. "Based on old stories, these were the god-like wealth of families chosen by almighty beings to guide the rest of the world to an age of peace and prosperity. They say one coin can pay for a decade's worth of food at any marketplace these days. Their value exceeds that of jemms."

Shinji didn't count the number of these coins that were in the pouch, but figured if he needed to find more of these Magiswords in order to find the ones necessary to get back to his world, he had to rely on the Warriors' knowledge and develop his own skills if he was to survive.

"Thank you for helping me to find this," he praised the siblings…and gave each an Empire Coin as a form of payment.

"That note says you need to find other Magiswords," Prohyas stated, "which means you just started something amazingly-daring."

"We know most places to go to in order to find Magiswords," Vambre revealed, "and there's one place to go for most Magiswords, and that's _Ralphio's House of Swords_ , owned by Ralphio Sabreware. Some of the ones we have we got from there."

Shinji decided he needed to go to this Ralphio Sabreware…but first wanted to change out of his plugsuit, as he hadn't had any other clothes to use before finding the clothes in the chest.

To be continued…

A/N: Some wondered if I wasn't going to use the announcer voice. Boo-yah!


	3. Taking it slow

Creation began on 01-04-18

Creation ended on 01-13-18

Neon Genesis Evangelion

Taking it slow

While he still required time to recuperate from his sojourn experience, Gendo wanted to see if his son could still pilot the Eva, something Shinji actually was shown to be sickened by…but obliged his old man, regardless.

"My God, he looks like he's nothing but bones under his plugsuit," went Maya Ibuki as she saw the Third Child in the Entry Plug.

Truth be said, most of Central Dogma agreed with the tomboy; Shinji, still very skinny, had less meat on his bones and made the plugsuit itself look as though it couldn't fill him out even if it tried.

"How is his synchronization ratio?" Misato asked; it had been three days since his return and the revelation of what he had been through in that other universe, and all she wanted for him now was just to take his time recovering.

"Thirty-seven percent," revealed Hyuga to her. "Much too low."

"Maybe it would be a mercy if he were to just throw in the towel," suggested Shigeru Aoba. "Even if he does recover completely, physically, recovering psychologically takes longer."

 _And yet, he's already damaged,_ thought Misato. _He was damaged even before he ever piloted the first time around. It'd be a dark miracle if he could still pilot._

Having seen his history, as both an abandoned child, an Evangelion pilot and a Magisword user, Misato had to wonder what Shinji intended to do with his vast arsenal of swords with different purposes.

"Hey, people," went Asuka over the intercom, "give him a break, would you? He just got back."

The redhead's behavior towards the boy had shifted after she saw his past and other swords. She almost considered him a god among insects, with people being the insects, and had to wonder herself if he was even happy to be back in this world.

"Thank you, Asuka," Shinji praised her.

-x-

"…It's only the initial test since his return, but with a thirty-seven percent sync ratio, it's too soon to say if he'll ever be able to return to active duty," Ritsuko informed Gendo and Fuyutsuki in the former's office.

"And what is your personal prognosis of him, Dr. Akagi?" Fuyutsuki asked her.

"His recovery is not something we can simply rush because we feel we're on a schedule," she explained. "If he's going to recover from his mental injuries, however many there may be, he has to do so at his own pace. And should he do so before the next test, there's a chance he'll be able to return to active duty."

"Yet we may not have time for him to simply recover," Gendo stated; he couldn't risk his scenario being jeopardized because his son wind up dehydrated, malnourished and psychologically scarred as a result of his experience with the Twelfth Angel and his sojourn adventure in wherever universe he was stranded in before he returned to this. "Reconfigure Unit-01 for the First Child and accelerate the progress of the Dummy System."

-x-

"…Did he just nod off again?" Misato asked Asuka, noticing that Shinji was quiet as she drove back to the apartment.

"Yeah," she answered. "Do you think he's ever going to be okay?"

"That's hard to answer. One of my questions is what is he going to do with all those different…swords? If his father ever knew about them, he'd want them confiscated."

"He wouldn't be happy with any of them, even if he could use them. They're Shinji's possessions, his tools, his…his toys. They could do a lot for the planet if he was well enough to use them all."

"And I'll show you," they heard Shinji say to them, half-asleep. "Anyone can use them…so long as they believe in them."

-x-

"…So, Rei, how does it feel to be piloting Unit-01?" Ritsuko asked the albino girl.

"It smells like Ikari-Kun," Rei explained.

As they were getting more data to install into the Dummy System, the faux-blond woman wondered if the Third Child would ever recover for NERV to be able to use him again. She didn't doubt his being the actual Third Child, as they had tested his DNA and found no abnormalities or flaws that would often be found in cloned or fabricated DNA, but had to wonder what he saw or did wherever he was after the Twelfth Angel.

 _We may need the Fourth Child sooner than expected,_ she also realized.

-x-

"…He sleeps more than he eats," said Asuka to her guardian, noticing how Shinji slept again after hitting his bed.

"Ritsuko says it's a side-effect of his malnourished state," Misato told her. "He sleeps more to conserve energy until his body rejuvenates back to or near its previous state."

Then, they looked over at his pouch of Magiswords on his desk, wondering if it was the safest place for them to be right now.

"Probably best to keep those close to him," Asuka suggested, taking the pouch from off the desk and putting it underneath his pillow.

One of them fell out of the pouch and onto the floor beside her feet. It was shaped like a large, white-colored first aid kit with a red cross on the top portion with a sword hilt on its side.

"A sword that…plays doctor for him?" She wondered, picking it up.

Wham! It grew from its compact size to its true size and weighed almost as much as a pillow or an actual sword in her hand.

"If Shinji has that, why didn't he use it on himself?" Misato questioned.

Asuka wondered the same, but then suspected that the reason why was not that he wouldn't…but rather, he couldn't. Maybe it wasn't the way the Magisword worked. Or it was that it required someone fit enough to use it and had belief in its power…and Shinji was, physically unfit to wield most of his swords, meaning someone else needed to.

 _I want to believe in it,_ she thought, deciding to give a try. "Here goes."

"First Aid Magisword!" The announcing voice called out, and the sword shot out a beam of pink light at Shinji's body.

He glowed for a moment and then ceased, looking unlike he had a second ago. There wasn't a single sign that he was in need of food or water to recover from malnutrition or dehydration.

"Whoa!" Misato gasps, and Shinji slowly stirred from slumber.

He looked at the two and the fallen First Aid Magisword on the floor.

"Which one of you used my First Aid Magisword?" He demanded, just wanting to know who the culprit was.

Asuka raised her left hand up, taking responsibility for her action.

"Thank you. I feel so much better. I couldn't have used it on myself, even if I wanted to. I didn't expect either of you to consider using it, though. Not without believing in magic."

She picked the sword up and gave it back to Shinji.

"Are you sure you're okay now?" Misato asked him.

"Positive. My First Aid Magisword is one of the medical remedies I acquired during my time in the land of Lyvsheria. Heh-heh, I actually found it underneath Castle Rhyboflaven, along with three other Magiswords that were undiscovered until I found them."

The women felt that when they observed his past in Lyvsheria through the sword representing his history up to the present, the world he ended up in felt like something out of _The Legend of Zelda_ franchise due to the bits of medieval tones combined with the sense that it seemed the kingdom of Rhyboflaven's primary resource was agriculture, particularly broccoli, a sufficient source of riboflavin. A literal kingdom of agriculture that he spent five years in.

Shinji reached into his pouch and pulled out a different Magisword. This one looked like an over-sized piece of broccoli as big as a refrigerator.

"The Broccoli Monarch Magisword," he told them the name of the sword. "It just produces broccoli, depending upon the situation you're in."

Then, he replaced it with another sword from the pouch. This one resembling a large, emerald ankh attached to a sword hilt.

"Your Revival Magisword?" Asuka questioned, recalling the copied memory she had of him using the sword to return Vambre Warrior to life when she got hurt saving him from a monster that looked similar to the Tenth Angel, only humanoid and served as the sword's guardian.

"If I could restore Vambre to life with this sword, I could use it to restore anyone to life…so long as they're willing to be restored to life."

"You mean, it can only resurrect people that want to come back," went Misato, understanding the magical mechanics of the Magisword better than Asuka did. "Nobody has died while you were gone."

"It doesn't have to be a recently-deceased individual, Misato," he stated, knowing more about the power of the sword than any other person alive did. "So long as you truly know the person from your point of view, you have a conscious and voluntarily desire to see them brought back and are willing to pay the required toll to do so, you can recall anyone from death, past and present."

He offered his sword to her, but she didn't take it. As much as she knew it was possible, she couldn't really see herself bringing her father back to life. Not even to ask him why he did what he did fifteen years ago, even if there was a chance of getting closure.

"Maybe later," she suggested; maybe once she had more time to think it over, she would reconsider.

"Couldn't you use it to…bring your mother back?" Asuka wondered; with the knowledge that Shinji witnessed his own mother getting killed by the very Eva he had once piloted, the redhead had to accept the fact that the boy came from a broken and dysfunctional family if his father just up dumps him on someone else's doorstep.

"Except she ain't beyond the mortal plane, Asuka," he informed her. "It's not easy to move beyond the mortal coil when you're purposely entombed inside something you don't really know about because the people that do know about it don't tell you."

"You'd need your Restoration Magisword to do something like that."

"Yeah. Either of you care to tag along with me outside?"

"Huh?" Misato responded, and saw Shinji extract another Magisword from his pouch that looked like a huge dual-edged sword made of something besides metal, red, blue and purple-smeared. "That cannot be safe."

"Oh, it's safe," he assured her, even though she knew he'd used it many times before after he acquired it. "Hardly anything beats it."

-x-

"You won't believe what Japan Heavy Chemical Industries has gotten into," Ritsuko informed Gendo, having received an update on the actions of the former wannabe-rival company, entering his office and placing a piece of paper on his desk. "We might have a problem."

"They have no means to hinder NERV," Gendo expressed, unconcerned.

"Maybe not, but they're getting recognized for being called, what some parts of the world that hate NERV, a people-caring agency."

The paper detailed that Japan Heavy Chemical Industries had gotten into the food distribution business…and was making a comeback after their humiliating demonstration of their Jet Alone robot. It also mentioned that one of the people involved with the recovery of the Third Child and his return to Tokyo-3, Shiro Tokita, stated that they owed their new venture to said boy, who suggested that they try something different to help the people that were being starved by the lack of resources.

"Your assumptions?" Gendo asked her.

"I have no assumptions on what occurred when the Third Child was with them," she answered, "however, you should ask him…or Major Katsuragi, if he confided in her."

-x-

 _An Unpayable Debt_

The dark outfit fit quite good for something he had just found with the Magisword. It felt like a good-quality shirt and pants that people spent a great deal of effort into perfecting. And on a personal level for Shinji, it felt like the best suit of silk.

As he and the Warriors walked into Mount Ma'all, the people and creatures present all turned their gaze upon the new guy.

"Who is that?"

"I've never seen him around here before."

"He's an interesting face."

"Where is he from?"

"Why is he with the Warriors?"

Vambre and Prohyas ignored them and led Shinji to _Ralphio's House of Swords_ where he could acquire more Magiswords for himself.

"This is it," Vambre told him, showing him the location.

"Whoa," he quietly gasped as he went inside with them and saw the walls adorned with Magiswords of every kind within view.

"Ah, Warriors!" They heard Ralphio's voice as he showed up behind the counter. "Here for new Magiswords today?"

"Not today, Ralphio," answered Prohyas to him.

"Huh?!"

"We're here to help our new friend get some for himself."

Ralphio looked at Shinji and said boy wondered if the sword costume he was wearing was a gimmick he used to advertise his shop.

"Hello, sir," Shinji greeted, opening his pouch of Empire Coins and taking out one. "How many Magiswords can I get for this one coin?"

Ralphio looked at the coin…his eyes widened beyond their capacity. The Empire Coin represented untold wealth associated with families of immense royalty before the modern-day Lyvsheria and Rhyboflaven existed. Just one coin could potentially feed forty families for over ten years with fresh produce and poultry…with a spare sum to buy clothes. It appealed to his greedy desires for wealth, but even if he did take it and supplied the boy with every Magisword he had in his shop, it wouldn't be enough to be considered equivalent between the two.

"Young man, I could sell you five copies of every Magisword here…and I would still owe you more for this coin," he confessed.

"What?!" Vambre gasped, disbelieving that just one of these coins could be worth every sword in his shop. "Really?"

"Yes."

"How about…for as long as I'm here and for as long as I'm in need of Magiswords I don't have yet, you agree to supply me with up to at least five copies of any Magisword I'll take that has been around or will be around for years to come, along with any information on where to find Magiswords you can't find anywhere else…and I'll consider the purchase on this one coin even. How's that, Mr. Sabreware?" Shinji suggested to him.

"I'll accept that bargain, sir. Who are you? I always have to know my new customer."

"Shinji Ikari."

"Nice to make your acquaintance, Shinji Ikari. Shall we get you started on building your collection of Magiswords? I have quite the selection for many different needs or situations."

Shinji was shown many different swords, some of which had their uses as tools while others seemed to be meant to help limit one's spending by being sufficient resources. He gathered three copies of Blow Dryer, Body Poppin', Cemet, Chainsaw, Cuppa Joe, Diving Suit (just because he couldn't swim didn't mean there wouldn't be places he might've required such a resource to travel), Droopy Clothes, Electric Razor, Excaliburger, Flashlight, Golden Broomstick, Grabby Giraffe, Ground Pound, Homing Device, Jackhammer, Little Blue Bomb, Microwave, Ninjappearance, Normcore, One Big Hole, and even Trouser Magiswords (much to Vambre's irritation, but Shinji felt he would need additional clothing in the future), starting his collection.

"You'll also need one of these here," Ralphio told Shinji, pointing to large swords that didn't seem like they were meant to be used as offensive or defensive weapons. "They're called Hoverswords. They're used to fly across solid surfaces."

"Flying swords?"

"Yes."

"I'll take that one, please," Shinji expressed, pointing towards a large Hoversword that was smeared red, blue and purple.

"Sold!"

-x-

"Oh, I've missed this! I've missed this!" Shinji cheered, flying across the hills on his Hoversword with Asuka holding onto his sides.

"Shinji, this is both crazy and exhilarating!" She yelled to him, but had to admit that being on a large sword that barely touched the ground was as large as a surfboard or snowboard was quite exciting.

"I know, I was terrified when I first tried it out. But after that day, it was great to be on this sword. I felt like I could touch the sky."

Misato watched as the Hoversword traveled up the hill like a bullet while the two teens might've weighed it down by maybe two-hundred pounds, yet moving like they weighed maybe five-ten pounds. And part of the reason Shinji chose this one was because the colors reminded him of herself, Asuka and Rei due to their hair colors, most likely to keep from forgetting them where he had been. If she had gotten on it, she'd probably weigh it down by at least one-hundred-thirty pounds…and Shinji would probably still claim it could carry her around.

 _Still, it must be a way to fly,_ she thought. _At least he made sure Pen-Pen was fed before we left._

-x-

The warm-water penguin, true to Misato's words, was too busy eating an entire garbage full of sardines, courtesy of Shinji and his Fish Fed Magisword. If he could've said anything to the boy, Pen-Pen would've praised Shinji for giving him such a banquet of fish, much more than he had in over a year ago. He must've eaten thirty-two sardines…and he still had plenty more left to eat until he was full and couldn't consume any more.

"Squawk," he went, feeling like he was in Heaven.

To be continued…

A/N: Anyone think that Shinji should be the one to come up with the Warriors for Hire's theme song used in the series?


	4. Swords of Friendship and Miracles

Creation began on 01-13-18

Creation ended on 03-22-19

Neon Genesis Evangelion

Swords of Friendship and Miracles

Even though he had fully recovered from the journey back to this world in the physical sense, half in part to Japan Heavy Chemical Industries, half in part to Asuka using his First Aid Magisword, but mostly in part to his support structure, Shinji still had a low synchronization with the Eva. He was barely under thirty-seven percent.

"No way was three more days necessary for him to make a full recovery," said Shigeru to his fellow Bridge Bunnies as they monitored the children.

"I saw him earlier," went Maya in response to his opinion, "I'm looking at him, and he's filled out. He's no longer skin and bones, anymore. Now, he's just healthy again…or at least of sound body."

"The First and Second Child are doing fine, but the Third Child's synchronization ratio could be a little higher," suggested Hyuga.

"Just like how you can't rush one's recovery, you can't guarantee an adequate synchronization between Shinji and the Eva by demanding it," said Misato to them.

Within the plug, Shinji barely felt connected to the Eva. There used to be a presence he couldn't really describe, but now it felt like he was just in a pit of some kind, by himself. He knew that one of his Magiswords could resolve the issue between him and the Eva, but he wasn't sure if he should do anything to disrupt what was already strained. His history sword giving access to his repressed memories of trauma and pain revealed that his mother was a real piece of work who was just as careless as his father was, but he couldn't see the three of them as a family like before…if they were ever one to begin with.

"Shinji, we're done for today," said Ritsuko to him. "Hit the showers."

"Yes, ma'am," he responded, and switched off the connection to the Entry Plug, sighing in relief to finally be done with the test. _I gotta rethink solutions._

-x-

"…So, the Third Child has mentioned nothing of anything else he might've said to the people of Japan Heavy Chemical Industries?" Gendo asked Misato in his office after the synchronization test.

"No, sir," she answered him; with the revelation of her ward's past up to that night in the living room, all Misato knew about anything that happened at Japan Heavy Chemical Industries was that Shinji, after using the two Magiswords he needed to return to this universe, fell through one of their boardrooms, suffered severe dehydration and malnutrition (the return trip through an interdimensional vortex draining him of much of his vital fluids), was nursed back to some degree of health, and he lent them some of his food-based Magiswords with the suggestion that they study them and supply the people deprived of much food because of the Evas and their costs. "He returned from where he ended up as a result of the Twelfth Angel incident, was helped by them, and later returned here by them."

"Is it possible that he's lying?"

"If it were so, the question would be why would he lie? What would his motive be to lie? What would he have to gain by lying?"

"He did say that where he ended up, five years went by, meaning that by the time he was able to return to this world, he was between eighteen-nineteen-years-old. He would've had to do things that might've changed his perception of the world, which would include lying."

But Misato assured him that Shinji was being truthful of his actions. Of course, this was just a lie that the purple-haired woman was bluffing her way through with in order to be convincing. She couldn't betray Shinji and let NERV take his Magiswords from him.

"Very well, then. You are dismissed." Gendo told her, and she turned to leave his office.

 _If only you knew how much you hurt him,_ she thought, _but then again, you wouldn't really care. Not with the way you view him as just a pilot._

-x-

Sometimes, Shinji had to wonder if it was possible for him to use his Magi Mobile to speak to Vambre and Prohyas, just to see how they're doing. While time had reversed for him in order to set him where he is now, time must've remained the same for everyone else before he left…and there was nothing wrong with just calling to say a greeting. But as he walked down the street to clear his head, he pondered about his return to school tomorrow; although NERV had rectified the situation regarding his MIA status, he wasn't sure if he was ready to face Toji or Kensuke. How could he, if he even could, that is, confide in them of his time in Lyvsheria, the Magiswords, and the Warriors for Hire and so on?

He even had to wonder sometimes about the point of even going back to school when the knowledge he had accumulated back in Lyvsheria had helped him over the five years it took to get back here. There wasn't much of a point in any career in science or politics, not like there was in just being an adventurer or swordsman or police officer. Shinji even considered that a medical intern profession wasn't such a bad way to live, so long as he never had to pilot the Evangelion ever again.

"I don't believe it," he heard someone say as he stopped in front of an electronics store window displaying several flatscreen sets. "Shinji?"

The sets displayed the boy's face as he turned to his right, seeing another boy around his age, with a camcorder tied around his left hand.

"Kensuke? Hey, there." Shinji greeted.

"They told the school that you were MIA, but I didn't want to believe it," the otaku expressed. "I mean, you don't just declare someone missing in action until you confirmed the status of any remains. Then, they up and say that you were actually in the hospital for medical treatment…and the worst I assumed was that you might've been in a coma or you lost an arm or an eye. But look at you. You're alright. So…what happened to you?"

"It's complicated. I'm not bound by NERV to not disclose anything, but what happened had barely anything to do with the last attack. In fact, it almost had nothing to do with the last attack after eight minutes into the situation."

"You seem different from before, Shinji. Something definitely happened to you over a week ago. Come on, man, divulge. What, did you get a girlfriend or did something like a one-night stand occur?"

After hearing that, Shinji thought of Vambre, and immediately shook his head free of inappropriate thoughts that stemmed from the times he saw her in her swimwear.

"No, nothing like that," he defended, and then sighed. "If you promise not to laugh or poke fun at me, I'll tell you what happened. I doubt you'll even believe me without proof."

"Try me."

-x-

"…So, just so that I understand it perfectly," went Asuka as she and Misato returned to the latter's apartment, "Commander Ikari thinks Shinji might've helped that Japan Heavy Chemical Industries group? He has no proof of this. Even we don't know what could've been said between that brat and those people."

Of course, Asuka knew very well that Shinji had lent some of his food-themed swords to the company so that they could help the people that NERV neglected by starving them financially. Mankind couldn't survive with just the Evas alone. They needed money, food, clothing and other such resources. In fact, it wouldn't have been unusual if Shinji had even given one or two of his clothing-themed Magiswords to the company to save the civilians a few dollars, yen, euros or whatever monetary system they used on acquiring clothing.

"If he knew what his son was capable of, he'd just take them for himself."

"Yeah, he would," Misato agreed with her as she opened the door to the apartment. "Hmm?"

In front of them were two pairs of shoes. This meant that Shinji most likely had company.

"Shinji?" She called out.

"Kensuke and I are in the living room," responded the boy, and they walked over into said room.

There, they found the pair…and Shinji was holding his personal history Magisword.

"Uh, Aida," went Asuka, wondering what had happened before they showed up. "Just how much do you know about…that (she points to the sword)?"

"Everything, redhead," he answered her. "He's got swords that make the Eva seem like yesterday's news because they can't do what he can with them."

 _So, Shinji shared his past with this stooge, as well,_ Asuka thought. "Surely, can we trust you not to talk about this to anyone?"

"Oh, don't worry. Shinji here has given me a very descriptive warning of what could happen if the wrong people heard about his sword collection…and he'd bury me if something bad happened."

"I'm a good person, but I treasure my sword collection. They're mine, and I believe they'll help me in the days to come here." Shinji explained.

-x-

 _Path to Friendship_

Mount Bonds was quite the unusual mountain to Shinji as he and the Warriors for Hire stood in front of the base of it. Not only was it shaped like two hands shaking one another, but it looked like two mountains fused together.

"So, this is Mt. Bonds?" Shinji asked the siblings.

"Yep," answered Prohyas as he took out of his Flashlight Magisword before they entered the cave. "Here's to finding some new and undiscovered Magiswords!"

"To new and undiscovered Magiswords!" Vambre cheered.

"New and undiscovered Magiswords," Shinji sighed, taking out his Flashlight Magisword.

It had been at least eight months since he arrived in Lyvsheria and during that time, Shinji, with the aid of the Warriors, had found at least eight other Magiswords unlike any he had seen before at Ralphio's. In addition to his first Magisword, he had obtained swords like the Build-a-House Magisword, Zetsuei Magisword and Shell Bullet Magisword. Other Magiswords he had yet to find were likely to be as futuristic and as powerful as the others he had obtained.

"Say, Shinji, do you think there's a Magisword here that'll help you get back to your world?" Vambre asked him eight minutes after entering the cave.

"Maybe, but the only way to know for sure is to find such a sword," he answered her. "Why do you ask? Are you hoping to find such a sword before I do?"

"Nope."

"Eh-heh-heh. I think you are hoping to find it first."

"Then may the best finder win."

 _I wonder why this place is called Mt. Bonds._

They traveled deep into the caverns and came across a three-way fork in the road.

"Which way should we go?" Prohyas questioned. "Do we go left? Do we go right? Or do we try the middle and see where it goes?"

"Maybe we don't choose for all of us," Shinji suggested. "We each go down a different path and see where it takes us."

"To the finder goes the Magisword!" Vambre cheered.

"To the finder," Shinji accepted.

"To the finder," Prohyas followed suit.

They each went down their chosen path; Prohyas traveled down the left tunnel, Vambre chose the middle tunnel, and Shinji went down the right tunnel. For Shinji, the right path just seemed unlikely to hold any prize for him at the end, but he still chose this route because he had to believe that he would find something waiting for him.

 _Warriors for Hire are here,_ he thought, singing to himself the tune he came up with for the siblings after two months of living with them. _It's both the name and career… Sleuthing siblings who quest…which is what they do best…_

He came upon a dead-end and sighed. But then, he noticed something on the cave wall that he hadn't seen a moment ago: It was some sort of indent shaped like a sword with an unusual shape.

"It looks like my…my Kunai Magisword fits into this?" He wondered aloud, and took it out to compare it to the indenture.

"Kunai Magisword!" The sword-announcing voice went.

The Kunai Magisword (A/N: Inspired by _Naruto_ ), shaped like a large kunai with its known abilities being to endow the wielder with martial arts knowledge and flinging a multitude of regular-sized kunai at whoever or whatever was unfortunate enough to be in the way. It was quite heavy in its real size, but Shinji didn't have much difficulty in swinging it or simply holding it up.

"Here goes," he said, putting the sword into the indenture.

Clink! It fit in like a puzzle piece…and the wall rumbled.

"Oh!" He gasped, backing away as the wall opened like a large pizza pie being cut into six slices, all being pulled back by the tunnel, revealing a path to go further down. "Amazing… It served as a key."

Going further, his Flashlight Magisword illuminated drawings and inscriptions on the walls; they were depictions of two people in a situation of some kind. Either fighting each other, fighting large creatures, one falls, the other…does something with a sword…and the one that falls…rises back up. It didn't make any sense to Shinji.

"…Aaaahh!" He heard someone scream.

"Vambre?" He questioned.

"Unhand me, you fiend!" The voice shouted, sounding like Vambre.

Shinji ran to the end of the tunnel and found the woman engaged in combat with a giant monster.

-x-

"…We might not be able to rely on the Third Child with his sync ratio being this low," explained Ritsuko to Gendo and Fuyutsuki in the former's office, going over the latest data.

"Very well," responded Gendo; he was beginning to have his doubts that the boy was of any further use to his agenda. "Has the Marduk Institute located the Fourth Child?"

"There is one candidate that could meet our needs…if properly motivated."

"Are we not even going to consider the possibility that we might be expecting the boy to return to active duty before he has truly recovered from his sojourn experience, wherever he ended up at?" Fuyutsuki questioned. "We can't just expect him to be completely ready to resume piloting. It'd be like…expecting someone who just came out of invasive surgery after suffering critical injuries to just return to work the next day instead of letting them take the time to mend or be rehabilitated."

"With the Angels' unpredictability, we can't waste time on any pilot to recover completely from any experience they went through," Gendo stated; he simply didn't want to waste any time on his son if his synchronization was below his expectations for piloting the Evangelion.

"And synchronization isn't hampered by physical changes," Ritsuko added.

But Fuyutsuki felt that they were not taking the time to simply permit the Third Child to continue his mental recovery in favor of bringing in another pilot and Evangelion.

-x-

"…When did you get that, Shinji?" Asuka asked the boy, noticing him on the rooftop of the apartment building, practicing swordplay with a bokken.

"Yesterday," he answered, swinging the wooden katana against a wooden dummy that had circled areas on several places, particularly the wrists and knees.

"You don't actually plan of using swordplay in an Eva, do you?"

"It's better to practice with a fake sword instead of unintentionally causing harm with one that isn't like regular swords. But no, I don't expect to use swordplay in the Eva. In fact, I don't intend to get back into the Eva at all. I never want to get back into that Eva or any other one, ever again."

"How do you intend to stop the Angels, then?"

"I'll do so with my Magiswords, of course. They can provide the means to overcome obstacles, no matter what they are, if they're used properly."

"You are something else, Shinji."

Asuka then noticed a folding chair nearby and decided to sit on it; it didn't seem like Shinji was going to use it until he was exhausted from his sword training.

"I get the impression that you didn't come up here just to watch me swing around a wooden sword, Asuka," he told her, circling the dummy. "Something you wanted to ask me about?"

"Yeah, there is," she gave in. "I know I saw it through that personal sword of yours, but I'd rather hear it from you. The Revival Magisword you obtained… Vambre Warrior was the first person you ever used it on, wasn't she? To save her life, I mean?"

Even when they both knew from his memories, Shinji sighed and lowered his bokken to the ground.

"Yes, Asuka," he answered her. "When I obtained the Revival Magisword, she was the first person I ever brought back to life with it. She saved my life from that monster. I owed her."

"It's none of my business to even ask you this, but…did you ever think you two would end up as…something more than friends?"

"No. I mean, there were a few times, but Vambre and I… Sometimes, things are better left unexplored."

"But…you did like her, right?"

"Yeah…I did."

-x-

 _Save Vambre!_

It was some sort of bear-like fiend with an endless number of tentacles in place of arms and legs…and it was attacking the Warriors!

Shinji saw them fighting the creature, but it was unlike the previous times. While the previous times felt like something out of a comedy or just a senseless degree of violence where nobody truly got hurt, with the exception of their pride, this fight seemed to be the opposite of everything they knew…and more of what Shinji knew instead. He saw Prohyas get slammed into a wall with enough force that his left leg might've been broken.

"Aaaahh!" Prohyas screamed, unable to get up.

"You foolish mortals!" The fiend roared. "You desire the sacred Revival Magisword?! Look around you! The ground of this cave is littered with the bones of those that came before you! Stronger people than you have tried for it and failed, paying with their lives!"

Vambre, wielding her Tomato Magisword, stood her ground in front of the fiend, surrounded by the pieces and fragments of bones belonging to dozens of people that came before them. This creature was unlike the previous ones they fought for possession of unique Magiswords; it was stronger and more dangerous, able to give as much as it got in return.

"Kunai Magisword!" She heard as she saw a shower of small kunai that struck the fiend in the head.

"I get the impression that this monster isn't like the others," went Shinji, taking out another of his Magiswords as he ran over to Prohyas, helping him up. "The previous ones were like child's play, but this one takes everything up a level."

"It's rougher than they were," Prohyas expressed, howling as his leg was broken. "My Chainsaw Magisword was useless against it. I tried using my Carnivorous Plant Magisword, but it ate it right out of my hands."

"Any offensive Magiswords left in your arsenal?"

"Nothing you haven't seen already."

Shinji took that to mean that Prohyas, despite their time getting to know each other, didn't have any Magiswords with him that would be effective against this creature. If so, it was likely that Vambre also didn't have any that would, either, leaving Shinji with a few that might've been effective.

"Shell Bullet Magisword! Zetsuei Magisword!" Shinji had summoned two of his Magiswords and used them, summoning a blue and white humanoid figure that looked as though it were wearing some sort of straight jacket with blue ribbons on the neck while covering his own arms in yellow-orange, metallic armor with red fins jutting out his back.

"Zetsuei, Stage Two!" He ordered the humanoid. "Shell Bullet, Stage Two!"

In less than three seconds, the small humanoid was replaced by a large, naga-like robot with what looked like rockets on its back…and Shinji's armored arms looked bigger and reddish-orange with a large, golden propeller in place of the red fins on his back.

"Those Magiswords!" The creature uttered. "So, you're the one we've been waiting for, the one who will wield the strongest of Magiswords that will affect the world. To gain this Magisword will bestow upon you the power of life over death…if you can defeat me."

Shinji looked past the fiend, at a display case that showed the coveted Magisword he and the Warriors were after. A Magisword that gave its wielder the power of life over death would've been such a beneficial power in the right hands, able to restore the lives taken by war and sickness.

"But you will not defeat me," the creature told them. "You…will…die."

And it was the way it said that, the way it looked at Shinji when it said it…that reminded the boy of his father, of how it seemed like the man hated his own son…and Shinji didn't like that. He didn't like that this creature was demonstrating disgust towards him…and they didn't even know each other.

"Sleeping Dragon Magisword!" Shinji heard Vambre's Magisword being used, and the fiend turned to face her as its tentacle ends became crystallized into sharp points.

"I am the eternal guardian of this coveted Magisword…and I will end all that seek it," the creature told them. "Time to die like those that came before you!"

Its tentacles moved like bullets, faster than their eyes could see…and Shinji saw the worst of this creature's wrath.

Vambre, despite wielding a sword meant to induce sleep on whoever it was used against, fell to the ground, her sword dropping beside her…in a forming pool of blood beneath her.

"VAMBRE!" Shinji's voice slowly echoed in a scream.

But the lady Warrior didn't stir. Even if the two men with her were to Megaphone Magiswords, she wouldn't have heard them.

"One of you has fallen," the creature told them, "and now you will follow."

This was an insanity that Shinji soon realized that he couldn't escape from seeing, no matter what universe he was in. Any situation that involved some degree of danger would often always carry the same repercussions that led to the ultimate extreme, which was the inevitability of death itself. Death…was the inescapable truth he wanted to avoid at all costs. Not for himself, but for those around him; he was fine with his own end, but someone else's was a line he couldn't cross.

"I'm takin' that sword, fiend," he uttered, tightening his grip on his two Magiswords, enraged by this twist of events. "Do you hear me?!"

Prohyas actually flinched when Shinji yelled like that. It was as though the boy had become engulfed with a rage that wasn't like anything the Warrior siblings had experienced before.

Shinji propelled himself from the ground, his armored arms glowing brightly while the naga-like robot disappeared from sight…only to reappear behind the creature and grabbed it to restrain it.

"Aaaauurgh!" Shinji yelled as he came close enough to punch the creature in its face, sending a large chunk of into the next world.

"Rrrrrraaurgh!" The creature roared in pain, still possessing enough of its head to look at and speak with Shinji, who looked beyond antisocial right now. "You! What is this?! What is this…this emotion that fuels you? It isn't just rage and desperation! What is this intensity that escapes from your soul?!"

Shinji didn't say anything to it, but just looked like he was about to go off on it again.

BLAST! And that is exactly what he did, sending the rest of its head into the abyss of oblivion.

Zetsuei released the corpse of the Magisword guardian as it began to melt away.

 _Congratulations, wielder of the Magiswords that affect the world on a grand scale,_ Shinji heard the creature say to him in his mind. _The Revival Magisword, the sword that bestows life over death, is yours to wield. Use it and save your friend._

As the armor on his arms and Zetsuei evaporated from existence, Shinji approached the coveted Magisword they had come for and lifted it up high above his head.

"Revival Magisword!" The sword was identified as Shinji used it to revive Vambre.

-x-

"…Yeah, you restored her to life and had a greater value towards life after that day," Asuksa stated to Shinji as the boy sat on the ground. "Of course, after that day, you sort of kept a closer watch out for both siblings. Even Vambre called you out as being somewhat overprotective."

"Yeah, but you know why I became that way. Even if I now possessed the power to return life to the dead, the idea of any person dying before their time was cruel. Nobody deserves to live forever, but nobody deserves to die young, either."

"And someone in their twenties is young to you?"

"Any age where you're ended by something that isn't consistent it natural causes like sickness or an earthquake or tidal wave is young. If you were eighty and someone killed you, it'd be the same thing."

 _So for him, eighty years old is too young to die, as well?_ Asuka thought as she sighed at the boy's way of thinking. _Anyone with a measure of power that others don't have would have ideas of power or status in the world, but Shinji's measure of power is based upon protecting those he knows and cares for to the best of his abilities. Instead of fame, he just wants to see those around him live to see another day and grow old._

Shinji just lay back and looked up at the sky above.

" _Aaaahh!"_ He remembered Vambre scream as she returned to life, healed up like she was never killed. _"What? But…I died, didn't I?"_

" _Yes,"_ he told her, _"but I brought you back."_

" _Thanks, Shinji,"_ Prohyas praised him on saving his sister.

-x-

"…For the Unit-03 activation test, we'll be using the Fourth Child," Ritsuko informed Misato the next day at NERV HQ.

"What? The Fourth Child?" She asked her. "They've finally been found? But I didn't receive an update from the Marduk Institute."

"You should receive the update later today."

But Misato wasn't convinced about something. It seemed too convenient that NERV finally found a fourth pilot for the Evangelions. Not only that, but only a few days after Shinji had returned from being MIA, officially and unofficially.

"Ritsuko," she spoke, "are you hiding something from me again?"

"No," she answered the purple-haired woman.

On the computer screen in front of them, the subject's picture and information popped up.

"You're kidding," Misato reacted in shock. "Him?"

-x-

He had to take a chance and hope that he could still keep in touch with someone from Lyvsheria, even though he wasn't there, anymore.

"Here goes," Shinji sighed and tried to contact Vambre Warrior on his Magi Mobile. _I believe in Magiswords and I believe in what I went through to be more than just some dream or hallucination. I must believe that I can still keep in touch with people from Rhyboflaven. Even if it's just to hear their voices, to know they're still around, that would be enough for me._

It was still working, showing an attempt to connect to another Magi Mobile, and all he could do was wait for a response. Wait for someone to pick up…or for the call to fail. If anything, Shinji was just desperate to hear the voice and/or see the face of a friend he had to leave just to get back to his home away from home.

Click!

"Hello," a female voice responded, "you've reached Vambre Warrior of Warriors for Hire where your issue is our mission. How may I help you?"

"Uh…Vambre?" He spoke, and then heard a gasp on the other end.

"Sh…Shinji?" The woman asked. "Shinji Ikari?"

"Yes."

"You were able to make it back to your world alive?"

"Yeah. Are you and Prohyas still looking around for Magiswords that Ralphio doesn't have?"

"You know we do. It's been almost a week since you left."

"Really, it's only been that long? I worried that time would've passed by too long after I had left. It's only been a few days here since I returned. I'm…I'm relieved to know that not much time has passed since I left. And…and…it's just good to hear your voice again."

"Likewise, Shinji. I'm glad that you were able to make it back to your world. I…I…I wish you hadn't left, though. The people here miss you."

"I miss them, too."

"But…you had to go back. You had to save your world. You have to save your world."

"We do…only what we can, Vambre."

-x-

"…You seem out of sorts lately, Katsuragi," went Kaji to Misato in the cafeteria. "What, is Shinji in low spirits again?"

"No," she responded, not really paying him any mind. "I think Ritsuko is hiding something from me again. The worst part of it is whether or not I tell Shinji about what I found out today."

"Why would you need to tell him anything?"

"You weren't there when he came back. He looked like he was barely skin and bones when I first met him, but after he returned from wherever he was, he literally looked like skin and bones. I have a deeper respect for him now that he's back."

That was true, Kaji hadn't seen or spoken with Shinji since the latter had returned from his sojourn experience in some other universe. In fact, the closest he had gotten to seeing the boy was a picture taken during his medical evaluation; he couldn't believe the boy looked as though he were barely hanging on, even through intravenous therapy. It was like something out of the American movie _Se7en_ , only Shinji hadn't been strapped to a bed somewhere by some deranged criminal.

"So…what are you going to do?" He asked Misato.

"Let him know what's going on," she answered him, "and wait for his reaction."

To be continued…

A/N: Sorry it took so long to continue this. Motivation is a pain in the imagination. I think what was perhaps my favorite scene in this chapter was the conversation between Shinji and Vambre after he tried to call her. I don't think I could've had him call anyone else except for her; their relationship is a bit deeper than everyone else's. What do you think?


End file.
